When Esparza's closed, the stalwart Tex-Mex restaurant at Southeast 28th Avenue and Ankeny Street, closed in January, it was a blow to fans of the cuisine, now deprived of Portland's only brisket taco south of Podnah's. They need suffer no more: Though the building's new tenant, The Blue Goose, leans more toward Santa Fe than Austin, there's still plenty of queso and carne asada on the menu.

The chow: The Blue Goose is nailing its tortilla chips, which come hot, crisp and in great quantity with salsa ($4.50), guacamole ($5.50) or queso ($6.50). Order them, along with a tart house margarita ($7.50), as soon as you sit down. Tacos come two to a plate for $7.50, with no mixing and matching. A bit steep, maybe, but the silky handmade tortillas and intense flavors such as smoked carne adovada (pork in a thick red chile sauce) are worth it. The restaurant's most popular entree, the four-tortilla-stacked enchilada with smoked chicken breast, two cheeses, avocado and fried egg in a moat of spicy green chile, is also its most expensive, at $13.50. It's a fine dinner, but the real winner here is the massive, messy green-chile cheeseburger, topped with a very un-New Mexican scoop of chorizo-spiked queso. It's as good as any I've had outside of the Bobcat Bite, which green-chile cheeseburger fans will know is the highest of praise.

The Blue Goose serves a superlative green chile cheeseburger.Ben Waterhouse, Special to the Oregonian

Real deals: Three salsas and a heap of fresh-from-the-fryer tortilla chips, $4.50.

Hangout factor: The vibe is more new-West saloon than colorful cantina, with Esparza's bright panels and constellation of bric-a-brac replaced with stained plywood and earth tones. Cattle skulls with lightbulbs in their eye sockets add a zany touch. Service is pleasant and attentive.